Yesterday I was going over the upfront lites on my 300SD 1982. I really want to get more light on the road. When my Fog Lites did work they were useless as far as I can remember. I'm sure the bulbs are just blown now as fuse #6 is ok and the low beams are working fine. Rather than go in and waste time changing the fog bulbs it may be time to upgrade. From reading the threads this is the way to go.

I read a few blogs on upfront lites and sort of know a few ways to take but they all include going over to getting a kit ad going over to the newer lites where you just replace the bulbs and not the reflector after the conversion is made. This makes sense to me. But there is other stuff I read and I don't want to go overboard on time or expense.

1. My first Question is why do folks replace the corner Yellow turn lenses to clear?These are the running lites and the ones that blink when you turn. I read they have been going with clear lenses on the front corners. Is this even legal? I don't presently plan on doing this but I read it and wanted to ask why folks do this. Does it just make the car look cool?

2. Has anybody upgraded or changed the function of the fog lite holes on these cars?


I wouldn't mind just doing the conversion from Sealed Beams and perhaps doing something different with the Fog Lite holes but I'm not sure what the options are exactly. I did read the threads for an hour or so, so I have done my Homework.

I looked at www.rallylights.com and they have Hella conversion kits. Since my other car has Hella high beams I'm leaning towards Hella. About $100 for the pair with an H4 bulb in kit.

At that site after you purchase the Conversion Kit you have to pick a bulb to go with the kit; (the H4 comes with the kit the way I read it).

I don't want Blue color as others with Blue blind me at nite.

If I pay more, like $50/$95 a pair for an upgraded bulbs is it worth the extra expense? If so,what bulb pair can I use without puttting strain on wiring or alternator and get good lite without blinding the other driver "too bad" or should I just get the H4 that comes with the conversion kit. Basically I'd be happy to have as good lightening on the road that my 1989 325i has. This is my goal. That car really is a pleasure to drive at nite in the dark. So maybe somebody knows what quality of lite I'm trying to get.

Am I correct saying the Conversion just entales moving a few wires around in the plug. I'm not too interested in getting a 6 Prong plug the the rear of another 80's model or doing anything too drastic of a mod.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Oh yeah, a ***** bout these cars. The darn high beam indicator on the dash is exactly behind the Cruise Control handle in the corner.

I have to take my eye off the road to see if it on or not. I hate this aspect of the car.

TY

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1982 300SD

The SD has this conversion and the light is almost as good as the full Euro conversions on the SDL's. The cost and effort is minimal.

I would not bother spending all kinds of money on "upgraded" lamps. The typical 55W low beam lamp works fine. I've purchased the +50% bulbs and see a slight benefit, but it's hardly 50%.

Use the H4 that comes with the kit. Buy a spare +50% bulb to have when the new one blows (they only give about 300 hours). Then you can have a direct comparison.

There are folks that love the Silverstars.........but, at $30+, I don't see the benefit.

This link to ralley lights link does not work.
anyone have photos of this installed on a 81-85 300sd?

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83 300SD Dark Silver Dark brown inside

Link fixed.

The look on the vehicle is identical. You're simply replacing a DOT sealed beam with a Euro lamp housing that takes an H4.

That's a question of taste and you'll get yourself in trouble if you take it any further. To stay legal, the bulbs are orange. In the extreme, there are silver bulbs that illuminate in orange.

Sixto
87 300D

I put the 7" round ecodes on the wagon and the 240D. The difference is wonderful, especially the light reflecting off the signs ahead on the road.

I also got the 50% xenon bulbs. They're not blue at all, very white. Usually, the ugly blue aftermarket bulbs have a blue tinting on the bulb.

I called the guys at rally lights and they were knowledgeable about the different kinds of bulbs. Give them a call, they're nice people. And the upgrade is worth it if you're wanting more light.

As for the fogs, try cleaning out the lens and changing the bulbs. They;re just little H3 bulbs. (Well on the 123 and 115 its an H3, I'm assuming the 126 is the same).

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1985 300TD-euro 352,000 mi
1974 240D (1?)52,000 mi - has a new home now

I would try and take the fog lamp apart, be sure the reflector isn't all rusted, etc.

-Jason

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1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.

Very useful information from you all. I'll go with a plain Jane seal beam to H4 conversion.

I'll order fog lights from them if they are H3's as you say. I'll clean the lense also. Just wanted to get prepared on what to do before I get to doing what I'm going to do. lol

Thanks for assistance. Much appreciated.

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1982 300SD

Just got done ordering this Hella kit. The guy there named Greg seems to know allot about Mercedes. He has owned them. He knows the 300SD set up well he said.

1-866-480-2159 www.rallylights.com

I told him I wanted to stay legal "as possible" and not look Obnoxious coming down the street nor get pulled over by the law.

He suggested ordering the H6054E Kit for my 300SD.

The H6054E is in the drop down menu. And it "says add $106".

Well this is missleading to me. Add it to what? Well you add it to "Zero" he told me. I told him I expected the $106 to be added to another amount. He said no and the site was miss leading.

I told him he is scaring off customers due to this.

So to do the conversion it is $106 for the entire kit ( both sides with Xenon +50 Lamps)to change over; and it comes with the +50 Xenon bulbs too.

He said I can use original plug too. He will hurry you on the phone, but he did give me the information that I needed to make the decision and order. I think they are busy.

With shipping cost of $11 to South Carolina my total bill is $117.60

I ordered on the phone and he takes credit cards.

Pretty smooth order. Hope I'm happy with it, he says I will be. All this light stuff is confusing to me and I'm glad I called him. At first we were going to go with the H4's but he sort of told me the +50 will be the best route to go without looking too weird on the road and that the Law would not pull me over. He has allot of experience from what I heard on the phone. Lots of country roads where I live and allot of deer.

He told me how to aim them too but full directions are in the kit.


http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=744

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1982 300SD

Keep us updated, very interesting, and not that expensive.

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1985 300SD - 167k miles
1992 F350 7.3 (Soon to be converted to 2 tank Veggy/WMO)

That's pretty much the same experience I had with them, except they didn't seem rushed when I had them on the phone. Could have been the time of day.

The pages that list the "kits" are confusing in the drop down menus. They should just show the price, instead of "add $###".

The size of the bulb that goes in the lenses is H4, the Xenon+50% is the type of H4 bulb (it looks like that;s what the "E" is in the H6054E model number). That's what I got and it works very well, I think. I don't really have anything else to compare to except for the sealed beams. And mine were easy to install, they fit in the housing just like the sealed beam lamp did, and the connector plugs right onto the back of the bulb. On the round lights, the lens is more flat, less "buggy" than the original lights (see pics here). But that's about the only visible difference from outside the car. I'd be curious how yours compare to your original lights.

Also, when I aimed mine, I ran out of adjustment on the screw for the drivers light, so I need to add a shim or something somewhere to get it aimed correctly. Right now its a little high and I think it gets in the eyes of other drivers somewhat, so that's something to watch for.

Good luck with it, I think you'll be pleased.

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1985 300TD-euro 352,000 mi
1974 240D (1?)52,000 mi - has a new home now

OK gotcha. H4 is size and +50 is the style of bulb. Still learning. I'm anxious to get the new conversions in. He was out of +50 yesterday when I ordered but he was supposed to get in new +50's today.

So I guess they sell quickly is my guess. Thanks for adding to thread.

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1982 300SD

My Fogs did not work because I forgot you have to pull out the Knob shaft.

Wasted lots of time up front trouble shooting. Car has been in garage over 2 years, so I forgot this procedure. The Forum jogged my memory on it.

Helps to know what you are doing. Oh well.

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1982 300SD

Glad you figured that out! Now you don't have to buy two more bulbs!

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1985 300TD-euro 352,000 mi
1974 240D (1?)52,000 mi - has a new home now

They arrived yesterday. What I got for $106 was the (2) Lamps (which are the reflectors that replace the sealed beams, and the (2)Bulbs, (which they call the bulbs; +50 Xenon's). lol. It had a dust boot too which is nice too.

It came with complete directions, even aiming directions. I removed my old terminls from the old plugs by sticking in a small screwdriver and popping out the conductors. I kept the old original plugs and just landed wires directly to the bulbs with some insulation wrapped around the center teminal. Wish the kit came with plugs but it didn't. It should be ok however.

Anybody know where to get plugs to install? I may do this later.

I got the +50's Xenon's and they put out a nice white light. Not blueish at all. I did not want hideous blue light. The light patern is much more focussed and I'm pretty happy with what I got. I still need to aim them but with them not aimed I'm getting about 50%-75% more light than the standard sealed beams. I did not fool with the fuses and they held fine for 2 hours.

This guy was real slow on shipping since he did not stock what I wanted but took my order before I leaned this. Took me 2 weeks to get the order.

If you are in a hurry then make sure he has what you want before ordering from him as he may not have in stock what you need and you may want to order somewhere else. His name is Greg.

A good place to spend $100 on these cars if you haven't yet. Change over takes like 2 hours and fairly straight forward. Just go slow and don't mess up and short the bulbs out or touch them on the glass. Don't forget to land the plug back on the back under hood too.

I did and wasted lots of time finding this dumb mistake on one side.

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1982 300SD